Waugh's Australia XI for SCG Test

Opener Aaron Finch would be dropped and allrounder Mitch Marsh would bat at No.7 and play the 'Adam Gilchrist role' in the fourth Domain Test in Sydney, if Test legend Steve Waugh was picking Australia’s batting order.

Waugh posted his Australia XI from the available squad for the final Test at the SCG on Instagram, which sees a complete reshuffle and Finch out of the side completely.

Opening the batting in Waugh's XI is rookie Marcus Harris and veteran Shaun Marsh, followed by incumbent first-drop Usman Khawaja.

At No.4 is Travis Head, Australia's leading run-scorer in the series against India, with captain Tim Paine moving up two spots to No.5.

Next comes Marnus Labuschagne, the Queensland batsman and part-time leg-spinner who was called into the squad after the defeat in Melbourne, followed by Marsh at No.7.

Along with the picture of his team, Waugh used the hashtag #marshtoplaygilchristrole, suggesting Marsh should play with the freedom and aggression the legendary wicketkeeper-batsman displayed in his record-breaking career.

Marsh has batted at No.7 six times in Test cricket with a top score of 87 and an average of 27.20, and is one of the most devastating hitters in world cricket when firing on all cylinders.

The 27-year-old bowled a career-high 26 overs for a return of 0-51 in the Boxing Day Test and scored just nine and 10 in the 137-run loss.

But Waugh has Marsh retaining his spot despite the criticism around his performance in Melbourne.

The bowling quartet of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood round out Waugh's XI.

Waugh's captaincy successor, Ricky Ponting, also believes Finch will be dropped for the series finale at the SCG and Labuschagne will come into the starting side.

Finch has averaged just 16 opening the batting against India, with 50 of his runs coming in the first innings of the second Test in Perth.

With the Victorian out of the side, Ponting expects a batting order reshuffle and a new opening pair for the fourth Test, which Australia must win to deprive India of their first series win on Australia soil.

"I've seen Labuschagne has come into the line-up so to me straightaway that means Finch has to miss out and Usman will open the batting, I'd imagine," Ponting told cricket.com.au.

"That's how it looks – Labuschagne probably bats four, Head five and Mitch Marsh six – I think that's the way they're going to line up.

"I can't really think what else they can do.

"The selectors and the captain and coach have obviously had a long chat about what they want and what they expect. We'll see how they line up."

Domain Test Series v India

Dec 6-10: India won by 31 runs

Dec 14-18: Australia won by 146 runs

Dec 26-30: India won by 137 runs

Jan 3-7: Fourth Test, SCG

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c, wk), Josh Hazlewood (vc), Mitch Marsh (vc), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc

India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (wk), Parthiv Patel (wk), Ravi Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar